The Corbomite Maneuver (episode)
Exploring a distant region of space, the Enterprise is threatened by Balok, commander of a starship from the First Federation. Summary The ''Enterprise'' is exploring a region of space that has not previously been mapped by the Federation. While photographing and mapping it, they encounter a curious cube. This marker buoy appears to be a solid object, but can nevertheless move and track the ship. When they attempt to pull away, it begins to threaten them with radiation, forcing them to destroy it in order to save themselves. They continue to travel in the direction from which the cube approached. Part of their mission is to encounter new civilizations, and Kirk hopes to meet the one that dispatched the cube. And he does; the Enterprise is approached by an immense ship, the Fesarius, flagship of the First Federation. It seizes the Enterprise with a powerful tractor beam, and its captain, Commander Balok informs the crew that they are to be destroyed. Kirk and Balok play a mental cat-and-mouse game; Kirk advises Balok that an attempt to destroy the Enterprise will result in the destruction of the Fesarius via corbomite, a material and a device that protects Federation ships. Balok relents, and dispatches a small pilot ship to tow the Enterprise to a planet of the First Federation, where the crew will be interned and the ship destroyed. The Enterprise crew manage to free themselves, disabling Balok's pilot ship in the process. When they beam over to render aid, Balok gleefully advises them that they have passed his test. He wanted to see what kind of people the Federation officers were, and he did not want to trust their records; he wanted a demonstration of actual behavior. At the end, Kirk, McCoy, and Bailey sample Balok's favorite drink, tranya. Kirk leaves Bailey with Balok as part of a cultural exchange. Background Information * You can watch for tell-tale signs of this early production such as a bridge chair squeaking rather loudly near the end of the episode (when Uhura is listening in on Balok's distress call), as well as hearing the ship doors, made of 20th century wood, slide on the stage floor as they opened and closed, making a solid wood-on-wood 'swoosh' that had yet to be edited out. * The "Tranya" that Balok served the crew was, in fact, grapefruit juice, which young Clint Howard absolutely hated. He said in an interview that he had to work very hard at making it look like he actually liked it. * The set of Balok's room was later recycled to create the bar in "Court Martial". * A nice detail of this episode was having the colors of the cube buoy reflected on the railings at the front of the bridge. When this perspective was later re-used as the stock view screen shot for the next three seasons, the reflecting lights still showed up on the railings. * In one of the series' most famous bloopers, a line from Balok warning the crew they had one minute left was not recorded, leaving Sulu to comment, "I knew he would" in response to nothing. The preview has an unused cut of Balok saying, "We grant you one minute" that could be modified and dubbed into the episode. * There are nice close-ups of some of the engineering read-outs in this episode. * The unique phaser burst that the Enterprise fires at the warning buoy is seen only in this episode. * The camera shot of the ship being towed by the small First Federation pilot vessel, from a perspective behind the nacelles, would be re-used countless times in future episodes, with different ships or planets matted in. When it was used later, it was often slowed down, which made it much more grainy than the clear print in this episode. * In this episode and Mudd's Women, Uhura wears a gold uniform. * Although we never learn the dimensions of the Enterprise during the series, it is much bigger than the cube. Sulu says the cube is 107 meters on a side. This would make the Enterprise thousands of meters long. Memorable Quotes Doctor McCoy: "What am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor?" David Bailey: "We've got phaser weapons, I vote we blast it!" Captain Kirk: "I'll keep that in mind, Mr. Bailey -- when this becomes a democracy." Balok: "This is tranya. I hope you relish it as much as I." Balok: "Yes, we're very much alike, Captain-- both proud of our ships." Links and References Regular Cast * William Shatner as Kirk * Leonard Nimoy as Spock * DeForest Kelley as McCoy * James Doohan as Scott * George Takei as Sulu * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura * Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand Guest Stars * Anthony Call as Dave Bailey * Clint Howard as Balok * Vic Perrin as the voice of Balok * Ted Cassidy as the voice of the Balok puppet * Eddie Paskey as Leslie * William Blackburn as Hadley * Frank da Vinci as Brent * Ron Veto as Harrison * Sean Morgan as Harper * Mittie Lawrence as Crew Woman * Ena Hartman as Crew Woman * Gloria Calomee as Crew Woman * Bruce Mars as Crewman * John Gabriel as Crewman * Jonathan Lippe as Crewman * Stewart Moss as Crewman * George Bochman as Crewman * Unknown actor as Bobby Many of the extras credited as crewmembers in this list were edited from the final print. Sean Morgan, Bruce Mars and Stewart Moss are nowhere to be seen in the episode. References adrenaline; Balok's cube; Bobby; [[Constitution class interior|''Constitution-class interior]]; corbomite; Fesarius; First Federation; poker; quarterly physical; recorder-marker; tranya. Corbomite Maneuver, Thede:Pokerspiele nl:The Corbomite Maneuver